美国国家公共电台 NPR 5 Years After Sandy, New York Rebuilds With The Next Flood In Mind

 

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This weekend marks five years since Superstorm Sandy slammed into the Northeast, causing billions of dollars in damage. Since then, New York City has rewritten its building codes to make low-lying neighborhoods more flood-proof. But as NPR's Joel Rose reports, some people think the city should steer¹ construction away from the coastline.

JOEL ROSE, BYLINE²: The Domino Sugar construction site in Brooklyn is about as close to the water as you can get.

DAVE LOMBINO: There's about 50 feet of pier³ sticking out over the East River.

ROSE: This site really is hanging out right over the river.

LOMBINO: Yeah, exactly.

ROSE: Dave Lombino is a managing director with Two Trees. The developer bought this waterfront site for $185 million after falling in love with the expansive views of the Manhattan skyline and the Williamsburg Bridge. A month later, the storm surge from Sandy flooded most of the property. Lombino says the company spent the next two years totally reworking its plans.

LOMBINO: We raised the whole grade of the site between 2 and 7 feet. So when you came here in 2012, you could almost reach down and touch the East River. And now, you know, you're considerably⁴ above it.

ROSE: That was expensive. But Lombino says it was worth it to reduce the risk of future flooding.

LOMBINO: It's not a matter of if it will flood again. It's a matter of when and how quickly we can bounce back the next time.

ROSE: It's not just developers who are thinking about the next storm. Since Sandy, the city has made big changes to its building and zoning codes for structures of all kinds - from luxury apartments to single-family homes - aimed at getting expensive heating and electrical systems out of basements and off the ground. Daniel Zarrilli directs climate policy and programs for the city.

DANIEL ZARRILLI: We're replacing less safe buildings with more safe buildings. So that means we're elevating the house. We're elevating the core infrastructure⁵, the mechanicals, the electrical equipment, the meter. All of that is being raised out of harm's way and out of the floodplain.

KLAUS JACOB: The city has done a lot of things that really help for the current situation. What I think is missing - that we have a long-term vision.

ROSE: Klaus Jacob is a climate scientist at Columbia University. He thinks these new resilient building practices are great, but he worries they won't be enough if sea levels rise 6 feet by the end of the century, as some models suggest.

JACOB: While those buildings themselves may be OK - because they are actually constructed in such a way that they can flood - people may not be able to get in and out of those buildings because the streets are flooded.

ROSE: Jacob says the city should start thinking now about managed retreat, steering⁶ new development away from the water and turning some low-lying areas into park or even marshland. In Staten Island, residents of a few coastal⁷ neighborhoods have taken voluntary buyouts and left. But in most parts of the city, homeowners are rebuilding in neighborhoods that flooded. And high-end real estate developers in Brooklyn and Manhattan are still building right up to the water's edge.

SIMON KOSTER: We're standing⁸ on the top floor of the West Tower on the 48th floor - what would typically be our penthouse apartment.

ROSE: Simon Koster is a principal with JDS Development Group. Koster says the firm incorporated some key lessons from Sandy into its American Copper⁹ Buildings - a pair of luxury apartment towers just a few hundred feet from the East River in Manhattan. Instead of a penthouse, for example, this room holds five huge backup generators¹⁰ that can supply emergency power to more than 700 apartments.

KOSTER: You would have enough power to charge your phone, and you'd be able to keep food in your refrigerator at a bare minimum. You'll be able to flush your toilet, and you would have an elevator that goes up to the floor you live on.

ROSE: Koster's company is betting those will become selling points for future tenants¹¹ as sea levels rise. But even the best flood proofing won't help if the buildings turn out to become luxury islands every time there's a big storm or an unusually high tide. Joel Rose, NPR News, New York.

1 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 pier   

n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱

参考例句：

• The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害，专家担心它已不能负重。
• The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。

4 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

5 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

6 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

7 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

10 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 tenants   

n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。